DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting new offering from the Alarm is here! It’s the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters –Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.

 

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Let’s start out by talking sluggers…

CARDINALS LOSE ADAMS

Matt Adams is likely to miss 3-4 months after needing surgery to repair a torn right quad (that sounds awful painful). As a result of the injury it’s possible that Adams will miss the rest of the regular season. There are rumors flying on the Internet, and that never lies, that the Cardinals might be looking into adding a player like Ryan Howard through a trade. Possible, but for now they will turn to Mark Reynolds to hold down the fort – and he’s a hitter much in the mold of a guy like Howard if truth be told (and I never lie… well almost never). Who is Reynolds?

Reynolds is nearly 32 years old.

He has hit at least 20 homers in 7-straight seasons.

He’s averaged 22 homers a season the past three seasons despite averaging a mere 427 at-bats over those three years.

Power is his game and he should provide a nice boost there with consistent playing time.

Alas, he is a whiff machine – 32 percent for his career – and that has led to a dismal .230 batting average for his career, a number he has failed to match since 2009.

He is what he is. Adam Dunn Jr., without the walks, thy name Mark Reynolds. He’s mixed league relevant, for now, as a corner infield option in 12/15 team leagues.

TRUMBO BASHING

Mark Trumbo hit his eighth homer of the season Wednesday as he starts to bash. What I don’t understand is the bashing he is taking in some circles. Why? Trumbo is batting .265. His career mark is .249. Trumbo has a .311 OBP. His career mark is .299. Trumbo has a .517 SLG. His career mark is .464. Again, I ask, why are people down on Trumbo? With his homer last night he’s put himself on pace for 28 big flies this season. The three times he’s had 525 at-bats he’s hit 29, 32 and 34 homers. Seems like this is who Mark Trumbo is. If you’re bashing you just don’t get it.

GATTIS FINDING HIS GROVE?

Evan Gattis has hit .264 with 29 RBIs over his last 30 games for the Astros. That recent surge leaves him on pace for 30+ homers and 100 RBIs. What are you complaining about? I know he’s batting .218 but I’m also pretty sure his .224 BABIP is going to go up a bit (career .266). When it’s all said and done he will be exactly what I said he would be – an elite power option at the catcher position (Player Profile).

DAVIS HITS TWO

Chris Davis blasted two homers Wednesday. I know he’s batting .214 with a .752 OPS and that stinks, but really, if he keeps up this pace and blasts 35 homers with 90 RBIs and 80 runs scored are you really going to be upset? Gotta admit though that I’m a bit worried. After a decent start to the season in the ole strikeout column things have taken a turn for the worse. Davis has 64 strikeouts in 153 at-bats this season. That means when he actually hits the baseball he’s batting .371. His average is in grave peril if he doesn’t slow the swing and missing.

DUDA DOING IT

The last two weeks Lucas Duda is batting .348 with five homers, 10 RBIs, and a wOBA of .519. His recent surge has boosted his HR/F ratio up to 15.4 percent, a nearly identical mark to the 15.2 percent ratio he had in 2013-14. I still have concerns about the batting average though. The obvious. Duda is a career .254 hitter through 550 games. Is that guy really capable of batting .304? Short answer is no. Further evidence. For his career Duda has a .299 BABIP. The mark is current .364. That’s highly unlikely to continue. Even more concerning is his preposterous 33.3 percent line drive rate that is 11 percentage points above his career mark of 22.3. The leader in baseball last season was Freddie Freeman at 31 percent and no one else even recorded a mark of 28.6 percent. Don’t expect Duda to keep this up, despite the gains he’s offered against lefties.

You tell me – why?

I’M FINALLY HITTING

Kyle Seager is crushing the last two weeks batting .367 with a .694 SLG. In 13 games he’s gone deep five times, driven in 10 runs and scored nine times. This is the same guy who, literally, I was getting questions about people dropping in 10 team mixed leagues two weeks ago. Even if you’re in a league that is that small, why on earth would you pass on Seager, or better yet, doubt him? Over the last three seasons Seager has 67 homers, tied for 5th at the position. Over the last three seasons he has 251 RBIs, 3rd at the position. Over the last three seasons he’s crossed home plate 212 times, tied for 4th at the position. Moreover, the last three seasons his average effort has led to a fantasy line of .262-22-84-71-10. Know what his pace is right now after the hot two weeks? How about .263-30-100-70-4. What were you worried about again?

Don’t know about you, but this is so many kinds of wrong

Some hurlers in the news…

THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL?

We all think the mantle belongs to Clayton Kershaw, but…

Max Scherzer became the 7th pitcher in the history of Wrigley Field to toss a 13 strikeout game against the Cubs without allowing a run. Through 10 starts this season he 6-3 with a 1.51 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 10.67 K/9 and , get this, he’s walked 10 batters all season long helping him to an 8.50 K/BB ratio.

Is Scherzer the new king? Looks like it.

I CAN’T KEEP THE BALL IN THE YARD

James Shields had an 11.84 K/9 mark, the second best in baseball (Danny Salazar (12.04). Shields is also sporting what would be the best K/BB ratio of his career (4.82). The rest of his line is all normal Shields stuff which is impressive. The only blemish for Shields is that his HR/9 mark is 2.17. Given that the last four seasons the mark has been under 1.00 and that his career mark is 1.10 you can feel pretty confident the number will be coming down soon. Oh yeah… his 25.0 HR/F ratio is more than double his 11.6 career rate too. The homer pace will slow and then folks will notice his work. His current xFIP, which normalizes for homers, is 2.79. His career best mark to this point is 3.24.
 

FINALLY TURNING IT AROUND

Alex Wood has won his last two decisions and he’s tossed three straight quality starts at the opponents. He’s also allowed just two earned runs over his last two outings and he’s walked only eight batters his last five starts. His game is starting to round into shape though he’s still permitting a .308 batting average against that has led to at least seven hits in each of his last four starts. The hits should lesson and you should still be buying Wood.

AM I READY FOR THE 9th INNING?

Sean Doolittle had a clean inning in his first outing Wednesday and he struck out two batters. Obviously he’s ready to take over the 9th inning for the Athletics. Or is he? I know no one seems to care, but did anyone other than me notice that his fastball was 4-5 mph below his 94 mph career mark in that outing? Read that again – his fastball was FIVE mph slower than normal. Given that he’s really a one pitch pitcher, he the throws his fastball 87.5 percent of the time, you should be well short of going all-in with dude at the moment. Don’t go bailing on Tyler Clippard just yet. 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).